welcome to bbc news, i'm rich preston. our top stories: ukraine's president says russian forces have "completely destroyed" the eastern donbas region, and accuses moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. the us senate approves nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine, as the un warns of a global food crisis, with millions of tons of grain stuck in ukraine. this crop is due to be harvested in over a month's time and the farmers here have no idea how they are going to store it or get it out of the country. it's the final day of campaigning before australians decide who will be their next prime minister, incumbent scott morrison or his rival labor leader anthony albanese.

cases of suspected and confirmed monkeypox are being investigated in a number of european countries, as well as the us, canada and the uk. and the man behind film scores that mesmerised millions, composer vangelis has died at the age of 79. ukraine's president says russian forces have "completely destroyed" the eastern donbas region, accusing moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. in another development, the international red cross says its registered hundreds of ukrainian prisoners of war who've left the besieged azovstal steelworks in the ukrainian port

city of mariupol. russia says all those who have left will be treated in line with international standards, but there are fears that some could face prosecution by president putin's courts. from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg reports. tired and wounded. moscow released these images of ukrainian fighters leaving the steelworks they'd been defending in mariupol, giving themselves up to the russians. ukraine is hoping for a prisoner swap, but in russia there are calls to put some of the soldiers on trial for war crimes. they are killers, they are criminals, but we give them medical care. but your country invaded ukraine with more than 100,000 troops. that's aggression, isn't it? no, it's not an aggression. it's not an aggression. don't bully us. moscow tries to justify invading ukraine with a false claim —

that it's gone in to fight nazis. a war crimes trial could shore up an unconvincing narrative. the kremlin wants russians to believe that in ukraine their army is battling nazis, and nato, europe and america were all plotting away to attack and destroy the motherland. and there are many here who believe this parallel reality. not everyone does. dmitry skurikhin admits that his country, russia, is the aggressor. he is appalled by the bloodshed and once his whole town to know it. he has transformed the outside of his shop into a message board with the names of ukrainian towns russia has attacked. kherson, irpin, kyiv. "peace to ukraine," it says. he has even turned his roof

into the ukrainian flag. translation: | thought| this would be a good way of getting information out, because for the first few weeks of the war our people didn't know what was happening. they didn't know that russia was shelling cities. some don't want to know. "traitor" has been graffitied on dmitry�*s door. and the police have been round. he's been fined for discrediting the army. "the front of a shop isn't for expressing opinions," she says. "he can say what he thinks," says anton. "i think attacking a neighbouring country is a strange thing to do." and in russia, protesting can be a dangerous thing to do. but dmitry is refusing to stay silent. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. the us senate has approved nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine, the largest aid

package since russia invaded. meanwhile, the secretary of state antony blinken is warning the world is facing the "greatest global food security crisis of our time", as more than 20 million tons of grain is piled up in ukraine because of the war. he's called on russia to allow ships to leave black sea ports, including the key city of 0desa, with food and fertiliser. 0ur correspondent caroline davies reports from 0desa. ukraine's wheat helps to feed the world, but while its black sea ports remain closed, much of it is beyond the world's reach. over 3,000 tons of grain fill yuriy�*s warehouse, but because of the issues transporting it out of the country, no—one wants to buy it. translation: idon't| know who in the world to ask for help. we would like to be helped to sell this grain at any price, as long as the people don't go hungry. i think that all western countries should help us. you need to bang your fist on the table, open

the ukrainian ports, stop the russian invasion and take out this grain. how do you feel knowing that there are many people around the world that would be desperate for this crop? translation: there's a feeling of despair. i i'm talking now with tears in my eyes. it's hard to say. yuriy�*s problems are faced by farmers across the country. this crop is due to be harvested in just over a month's time, but the farmers here still have no idea where they're going to store it or how they're going to get it out of the country. some goods can be taken out by road, others by rail, but not in the same quantities that used to be transported by sea. since russia began its invasion, ships can't move forfear of being hit. and the sea has also been mined, which could take months to remove. andrey stavnitser is the owner of one of the largest ports in ukraine. we have about 80 ships that are basically ghost ships

in ukraine right now. the crews have left them, some of them are full, some of them are empty, they're in the ports or outside the ports, they're standing idle, and for the crews to come back, their shipping companies have to get clearance from insurance companies, and these insurance companies are obviously not happy to allow this to happen because the sea is full of mines. how long do you think it will be until you can reopen the port again? we have no idea when we will be able to reopen the port. we are facing a disaster that's going to happen in the next few weeks when the new crop is here and the old crop is not exported. the un has warned that unless russia allows the ports to reopen, there could be mass hunger and famine for years. russia says sanctions imposed on it would need to be looked at if the world wants to solve the crisis. while many in the west will feel that russia is holding safe passage through the sea hostage, if no agreement is reached, ukraine's crop could rot while others starve.

caroline davies, bbc news, 0desa. joe biden is on his way to asia, his first trip to the region as us president. his first stop is south korea, where he'll meet the new president yoon suk yeol, before he heads to tokyo to meetjapan�*s prime minister, fumio kishida. during his time there, president biden is also due to hold a summit other three leaders of the so—called quad group —japan, australia and india. dr david satterwhite is a specialist on north—east asian and korean politics who's based in kyoto, japan, at the council on international educational exchange. doctor satterwhite, thank you for making the time for us. let's talk about japan ist, where you are. i of the reasons behind president biden�*s trip is he is looking to bolster support to is a national opposition to russia's invasion of ukraine. japan at his closest is only 35 kilometres

from russian territory. how is this likely to play up between their leaders and how will this play out with the us? i their leaders and how will this play out with the us?- play out with the us? i think it is a very — play out with the us? i think it is a very important - play out with the us? i think it is a very important trip - it is a very important trip both to south korea and japan. again to japan as you have. i think it is a reassurance to the japanese public and the government that the us remains firm in its commitment both to japan's security but also to a world order in which the kind of aggression we are witnessing in ukraine is not repeated in a shop. so although injapan, i must say thatjapan shop. so although injapan, i must say that japan has got along very, very strongly and has committed to taking steps with the rest of the western world, vis—a—vis the invasion of ukraine. the relationship is very strong. it will be solidified further by the biden visit. i think it is going to be well received by the public and by the prime minister. what

and by the prime minister. what about south _ and by the prime minister. what about south korea? _ and by the prime minister. what about south korea? president yoon suk yeol has been in office just over a week. what might he be looking for from the us? �* ., , , the us? again, very, very appmpriate _ the us? again, very, very appropriate timing - the us? again, very, very appropriate timing to - the us? again, very, very appropriate timing to be l the us? again, very, very- appropriate timing to be there appropriate timing to be there a week after his inauguration. being on the same page as we say for south korea and the us to reassure the south korean public but also to recommit to the security relationship but also look in at co—ordinating policy both vis—a—vis north korea and look for an improvement of relations between the us�*s to key allies in northeast asia, japan and south korea, that relationship has been on the rocks and very, very troubled over the past decade and the us has a role that it will seek to play in bringing south korea closer to japan. the president has also indicated his hopes of

improvement in the south korea japan relationship. just briefl , japan relationship. just briefly, how _ japan relationship. just briefly, how has - japan relationship. just briefly, how has this i japan relationship. just briefly, how has this played out in regional media? well, aaain out in regional media? well, again there _ out in regional media? well, again there is _ out in regional media? well, again there is a _ out in regional media? well, again there is a lot _ out in regional media? well, again there is a lot of- again there is a lot of attention and looking forward to the visit that is just about to the visit that is just about to get underway in south korea and then here injapan. the region, of course, includes north korea and china and i am not privy to the media portrayal of those at the moment. but in south korea, in japan and elsewhere in east asia, there is a recognition that the united states' decade—long pivot to asia has been interrupted by the development is in europe of course but a recognition that the us is still very firmly committed. i might add that quietly, the issue of taiwan will be raised both in seoul and in tokyo. because the long—term effort by the chinese government to as they say,

retake taiwan, all the more in light of the recent developments in ukraine and russia's actions, standing firm with another democracy in asia are, that of taiwan, will be a subtext of the meetings here in japan and in seoul. taste subtext of the meetings here in japan and in seoul.— japan and in seoul. we will have to leave _ japan and in seoul. we will have to leave it _ japan and in seoul. we will have to leave it there. - japan and in seoul. we will. have to leave it there. doctor satterwhite. _ have to leave it there. doctor satterwhite, thank _ have to leave it there. doctor satterwhite, thank you - have to leave it there. doctor satterwhite, thank you for i satterwhite, thank you for joining us. pleasure. it's now well in to friday in australia, and the final day of campaigning before australians go to the polls to vote for a new parliament, and a new government. 0ne party needs to win at least 76 of the 151 seats there to form a majority government. if it can't do that, it must try to win support from independent mps, or those from minor parties and form a coalition. the bbc�*s karishma vaswani is in sydney for us, and earlier i asked what are the main issues for voters in this election. one of the big issues i've heard in the reporting i've done while i've been here, for a lot of voters has been concerns over climate change

that has caused a great deal of anxiety for some people and it is certainly getting up the charts there is one of the main issues for a lot of voters here, particularly in places like sydney where there have been discussions around of course, those deadly bushfires and the devastating floods that australia has seen over the last couple of years. the effects of global warming on the planet, really right up front and centre for a lot of people here. the other issue of course has been something we've seen in other parts of the world, the cost of living. recently that's come up to a 21—year high here in australia, it's not just fuel and food, it's things like housing as well. a lot of young australians are struggling to own their first home or rent a home out here. and that is becoming a key election talking point as well. away from that, there is also the politics of integrity which has increasingly come up as a discussion point and this contest is

being framed as a choice between character and experience, because the people that we have on offer are some of the familiar faces out here in australian politics, incumbent, scott morrison and his rival, the main 0pposition leader anthony albanese and the independent candidates and candidates from the minor parties as well. tell us a bit more about that because we have these traditional two big parties, scott morrison and his liberals and the labor party with anthony albanese but what role do the independent politicians play in this moment? ——in this vote? well, they could play a really important role certainly, and they've been galvanising a lot of support in places like sydney, for instance, because they've come about with the sort of message of hope and transparency and clean government and they have chosen the colour tealfor them, which is why some of them are being referred to as the teal wave and many of them are women. and they caught the fact that for a lot of voters, they are feeling very disenchanted with the traditional options on offer and they want something

different. and they've talked about climate change, the treatment of women as well in australian politics and in the australian workplace, and it's become something of a realflashpoint here in the lead—up to the vote. it's been interesting to see just how much momentum these parties and these candidates have been able to galvanise ahead of the election. and if indeed there is a hung parliament, when you get around to the vote on saturday, they could play a really crucial part going forward. karishma viswani in sydney. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: the oscar—winning composer of some of the most famous film soundtracks, vangelis, has died at the age of 79. this morning, an indian air force plane carrying mr gandhi's body landed in delhi. the president of india walked to the plane to solemnly witness mr gandhi's final return

from the political battlefield. ireland has voted overwhelmingly in favour of gay marriage. in doing so, it has become the first country in the world to approve the change in a national referendum. it was a remarkable climax to what was surely the most extraordinary funeral ever given to a pop singer. it's been a peaceful funeral demonstration so far- but suddenly, the police i are tear—gassing the crowd. we don't yet know why. the pre—launch ritual is well—established here. helen was said to be in good spirits, but just a little apprehensive. in the last hour, east timor has become the world's newest nation. it was a bloody birth for a poor country and the challenges ahead are daunting but for now, at least, it is time to celebrate. this is bbc news. the latest headlines:

ukraine's president says russian forces have "completely destroyed" the eastern donbas region, and accuses moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. presidentjoe biden is on his way to south korea on his first asian trip as us leader. cases of suspected and confirmed monkeypox are being investigated in a number of european countries, the us, canada and the uk — that's according to health authorities and local media reports. the disease is common in tropical rainforest areas, mostly in remote parts of central and west africa. monkeypox is usually mild but there are different strains and different fatality rates, with statistics ranging from 1 to 10%. joining me now is dr anne rimoin, professor of epidemiology in the fielding school of public health at the university of california.

good to see you, thank you for being with us. tell us more about monkeypox. what is it, however symptoms, about monkeypox. what is it, howeversymptoms, how about monkeypox. what is it, however symptoms, how does it spread? however symptoms, how does it sread? ., ~ ., ., spread? thank you for having me. gearbox _ spread? thank you for having me. gearbox is _ spread? thank you for having me. gearbox is a _ spread? thank you for having me. gearbox is a poxvirus, i spread? thank you for having me. gearbox is a poxvirus, a| spread? thank you for having l me. gearbox is a poxvirus, a of smallpox. —— monkeypox. it was a terrible disease that has been eradicated from the planet. monkeypox spreads normally from contact with wild animals, typically found in the forested areas of central and west africa. i spent my career working in the democratic republic of congo where it is endemic and working on monkeypox, it is rare to see this virus spreading outside of the african continent, so this outbreak of these several clusters of cases are very unusual. clusters of cases are very unusual-— clusters of cases are very unusual. ., , , ., unusual. you say it is unusual but concerning _ unusual. you say it is unusual but concerning is _ unusual. you say it is unusual but concerning is this - unusual. you say it is unusual| but concerning is this spread? well, you know, because we

eradicated smallpox, we stopped vaccinating against smallpox. now, we have very little population immunity to this virus so it makes sense that if people are exposed to pox viruses, we will see more cases. if we talked about this at morning time all, i guess, it is now mourning time your time but let's say last night your time, time but let's say last night yourtime, i time but let's say last night your time, i would time but let's say last night your time, iwould have time but let's say last night your time, i would have said i'm not extremely concerned about this. it makes sense. we've seen several cases here and there. but over the day, we've now seen clusters in many countries throughout the world and i myself, as a person who has spent my entire career studying pox viruses and i'm perplexed and interested to understand a lot more about the dynamics here. sorry, am i very concerned? —— sorry. i'm

concerned, not alarmed. i think it's important to understand how these cases occurred ——so. was the primary introduction and how many secondary cases are there? it will be very important to understand how these cases occurred, if there are any ties between them and if this is a result of some sort of common source, maybe a product or something else that has been contaminated which was disseminated in a variety of places, or is this related to person—to—person transmission. 0nce person—to—person transmission. once we understand that, we will understand if there is a change in the virus, a change in where it is now lodged itself and starting to spread or is there something else going on?— or is there something else auoin on? ~ ., ., ., going on? we will have to leave it there. going on? we will have to leave it there- on _ going on? we will have to leave it there. on cue _ going on? we will have to leave it there. on cue for— going on? we will have to leave it there. on cue for your - it there. on cue for your expertise. —— thank you. let's get some of the day's other news.

britain's prime minister boris johnson will face no further penalties for breaking his government's own covid lockdown rules. police in london have now closed their investigation, having handed out a total of 126 fines. mrjohnson was fined last month over a party at his office. israeli police say dozens of extremist ultra—0rthodox jews have broken through security barriers at an annual religious festival where 45 people were killed in a stampede last year. police have limited numbers to this year's event at mount meron to prevent a repeat of the disaster. some security cameras and equipment were sabotaged as worshippers stormed the venue. sri lanka has defaulted on its debt for the first time in history as the country struggles with the worst financial crisis in more than 70 years. the central bank governor says the country is now in a "pre—emptive default". the 18—year—old white man accused of killing 10 people in a livestreamed shooting in a black neighbourhood in buffalo, new york, has appeared in court for the first time. the hearing lasted just a few minutes and the suspect, payton gendron, was ordered to remain in custody without bail. the shooting happened

at a supermarket last saturday. canada has banned the chinese telecoms giant huawei from working on its domestic 5g networks. the government's decision has long been expected and puts canada in line with the us and other key allies who've expressed concerns about the national security implications of giving the chinese company access to key infrastructure. the greek composer vangelis has died at the age of 79. he composed one of the best known film scores, chariots of fire. vangelis won an oscar for the soundtrack in 1981 and wrote music for many other films, including blade runner. david silitto looks back at his life. chariots of fire theme plays.

chariots of fire, 1981 — a soundtrack that was both an oscar winner and a number one single. the work of evangelos 0dysseas papathanassiou, better known as vangelis. he'd started playing piano when he was four and in the �*60s, aged 25, teamed up with a young demis roussos to form aphrodite's child. # try to look and understand. # whoa. but a life of writing commercial hits for a band was not what he wanted. in his studio in london, he spent hours alone, exploring the possibilities of an emerging new musical

technology — the synthesiser. # no questions... ..which led to a successful partnership with the singerjohn anderson. # somehow, i'll find my way home. but his most natural home was film. his musical signature was the sound of soaring hope and lonely infinite distance. sport and space. movies such as blade runner, there was a vision of a distant future — los angeles, 2019. and it needed the sound of the future. my interest was not to create a symphony orchestra — which i can, it's very easy — but to go further than that and do things that the symphony orchestra can't do, and i think i succeed to create something like this.

he was private, publicity shy, but his life of constant travel and lonely hours in the studio, you could hear something of the life of vangelis in his music. chariots of fire theme plays. vangelis, who's died at the age of 79. and before we go, if you were thinking about going car shopping this weekend, you'll have just missed out on this. a bargain. this 1955 mercedes has been sold at auction for $143 million, making it the most expensive car ever sold. it's one of only two mercedes benz 300 uhlenhaut coupes that were ever built. it was bought by an unnamed private collector and the money is being donated to charity. that $143 million price tag also puts it within the top 10 most valuable items ever sold at auction. that's it from us. goodbye.

hello there. the weather is certainly a bit up and down at the moment. we had a pretty good day on thursday with sunshine across much of the country — temperatures into the low 20s — but after a much quieter night, things will change again on friday with more cloud, it's going to be cooler and breezy, and there will be some rain around at times. now, we've got a weather front approaching the north—west of the uk to bring some rain. we're also seeing more cloud moving up from the south across england and wales, starting to bring some rain by the morning. we will get wetter in the morning across the south—east of england, then into east anglia. some thunderstorms just across the channel. as it gets wetter here, we'll start to see some sharp showers breaking out elsewhere. a spell of rain moves across northern ireland into western scotland and north west england in the afternoon — by which time, we should see that more persistent rain clearing the south—east, some sunshine and even a few showers here. so, it will be a cooler day — could make 19 degrees after the rain in the south—east — 14 in the central

belt of scotland. and we've got a spell of rain in the evening running eastwards across scotland, northern england. once that moves away, we'll have some clearer skies overnight with a few showers left over in western parts of scotland by saturday morning and by then, temperatures will be around 9—11 celsius. this is the pattern that we've got as we head into the weekend. higher pressure to the south of the uk with a west to south—westerly airflow and some weather fronts approaching northern areas, so expect a lot of cloud for northern ireland. we may well see a little bit of rain here. a bright start, i think, in scotland — those showers in the west being replaced by thicker cloud and some outbreaks of rain in the afternoon. england and wales, a good chance of staying dry, some good spells of sunshine coming through, and those temperatures reaching 21 degrees in the south—east. still only around 14 in the central belt of scotland. second half of the weekend, got to keep an eye on this weather front here, could bring some showers into the english channel, but otherwise, it's towards the north—west again that these weather fronts will bring in some more outbreaks of rain, particularly into scotland and northern ireland.

a bit of damp, drizzly weather coming over the irish sea into western parts of england and wales but through the midlands, towards east anglia and the south—east, here, it should be dry. this is where we've got the best of the sunshine and the highest temperatures — up to 23 degrees — but it should be a little bit warmer for many of us on sunday. things will change, though, into the beginning of next week because lowering pressure means that it is going to get much wetter once again and those temperatures will be dropping away as well. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: ukraine's president says russian forces have �*completely destroyed' the eastern donbas region — and accuses moscow of senseless bombardments as it intensifies its attacks. meanwhile, the international red cross says its registered hundreds of ukrainian prisoners of war who've left the besieged azovstal steelworks in the port city of mariupol. the us senate has approved nearly $40 billion in aid to ukraine, the largest aid package since russia invaded. the un is warning of a global food crisis, with more than 20 million of tonnes of grain stuck in ukraine because of the war. it's the final day of campaigning before australians go to the polls to vote for a new parliament and a new government. voters will choose between incumbent scott morisson or his rival labor leader anthony albanese, and one party needs enough seats to form a majority government.